Overview

Pros
Quality fit and finish, good performance and legendary reliability

Cons
Somewhat dated exterior styling and only has a six-speed gearbox

Value for money
Good

What would I change?
More gears needed to enhance efficiency

The Lexus GS is the Japanese brand’s grand touring sedan entry and it was thoroughly reworked for model year 2013 to bring a higher degree of style and curb appeal to the segment. As a result, there aren’t many changes on the menu for the 2015 model year, but the car still represents one of the best packaged models in this category.

The Lexus GS 350 features crisp lines and subtle curves, and it has a very mature and upscale look overall. This has helped it attract a large following in Canada and many new buyers to the Lexus camp.

The Lexus GS is available in just two versions: a gas-powered all-wheel-drive model fitted with a six-speed automatic; and a rear-wheel-drive hybrid offering fitted with a CVT. There’s also the GS 450h hybrid, for those individuals looking to reduce their environmental footprint.

The subject of this review is the GS 350 which is a car that is well-suited to both the road and climate conditions of the Canadian market which can often be challenging.

Lexus offers four option packages to allow the customer to enhance both the driving experience as well as the look of the vehicle. Our test vehicle featured the F Sport Series 2 package, which brought a host of additional equipment including enhanced body styling, safety and performance equipment. It also adds the phenomenal Mark Levinson Premium audio system with 17 carefully matched speakers.

Under the hood of the GS 350 you will find a very smooth and reliable 3.5-litre V6 that produces 306 horsepower and 277 lb.-ft. of torque. It is mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox which can be manually shifted by using either the side shift gate or the steering-wheel mounted shift paddles. As good as this transmission is, it could use a couple of more gears to help bolster efficiency.

At the touch of a dash-mounted button, the car comes to life and a throaty burble creeps from the exhaust when you tap the throttle. While the horsepower and torque numbers may seem low to some enthusiast drivers, I never found myself short on power. In fact, the car proved to be an awful lot of fun to hustle around in.

During my week-long test period, it quickly became apparent that the GS is a car with two distinct personalities. As I made my way through the city and rush-hour traffic, the car offered me a serene and comfy refuge from the hustle and bustle around me, but when I found a stretch of open road my inner delinquent would commandeer the controls and have some fun.

The car’s transmission works very efficiently on its own, but once you start manipulating the shift paddles the car really comes to life. Gear changes are quick and transitions are smooth enough to go unnoticed by your passengers.

Acceleration is very linear as the car begins its rapid climb to highway speeds without any excess drama. The car will accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds, which is pretty impressive given the car’s overall size and the extra weight of the all-wheel-drive system.

The sophisticated all-wheel drive system has been designed to direct 70 per cent of the power to the rear wheels, which helps preserve the handling dynamics favoured by the majority of enthusiast drivers. However, when wheel slippage is detected, the system reacts to transfer up to 50 per cent of the power to the front wheels in an effort to provide optimal traction.

Dash layout of the 2015 Lexus GS 350 is driver centric and most of the controls and switchgear are within easy reach of both hand and eye

On the technology side, the GS comes equipped with Drive Mode Select, a computerized system which allows the driver to customize the car’s handling dynamics and performance parameters via the dash-mounted display screen interface. This clever system allows the driver to choose to operate the car in four different modes – ECO, Normal, Sport and Snow, but adding the F-Sport Series 2 package replaces the Sport setting with two higher order performance settings, Sport S and S+.

An advanced Adaptive Variable Suspension system has been developed to bless the car with improved steering response as well as significantly reduce the effects of body roll and lean, and front and rear stabilizer bars help sharpen overall handling. This well sorted suspension setup keeps the car tracking straight and true while preserving the level of ride comfort one expects from a Lexus product.

The GS 350 delivers very neutral handling and feels exceptionally well balanced when executing turns or hustling through the twisty sections of your favourite back road at speed. The over-sized brakes were responsive and resistant to fade.

The driver will appreciate the layout of the cockpit which places all the controls and switchgear within easy reach of both hand and eye. The thick-rimmed, three-spoke F-Sport steering wheel is one of the best out there, and the fact that it is heated will be appreciated on cold mornings.

The list of standard equipment is long and includes all the comfort, safety and entertainment accessories expected in an executive class sedan. Notable highlights include an abundance of LED lighting systems and an ultra-wide, 12.3-inch dash screen that is used for navigation, entertainment and system controls. The driver is able to input user commands by using the Lexus Remote Touch Interface – a mouse-like input device that seemingly floats above the centre console.

At six-foot-two-inches tall I still had more than enough headspace available to wear a hat if so inclined, in all seating positions. The heated and ventilated front bucket seats were supportive enough to hold me in place during aggressive manoeuvres and comfortable enough for long distance travel.

The rear seating compartment is perfectly comfortable for three adults, but there is a rather unfortunate hump to accommodate the drive-train that will interfere with the leg room for the passenger seated in the middle. Pleasant ambient lighting, extra insulation, and the highest quality of materials combine to make the passenger cabin a very pleasant place to be.

The GS 350 represents a nice alternative to the often finicky European offerings out there and a little more image cachet than most of its Japanese and American counterparts, but it will need a redo in the near future if it hopes to retain its prominence in the segment.

The 2015 Lexus GS 350 is one of the most popular models in the Lexus fleet